Breast cancer screening knowledge and skills of students upon entering and exiting a medical school.

PURPOSE

To assess needs for breast cancer screening education by comparing medical students' training and knowledge of breast cancer screening upon their entry to and exit from medical school.

METHOD

Seventy-seven medical students at one medical school completed questionnaires as first-year students (in 1992) and again as fourth-year students (in 1996) that assessed their breast cancer screening knowledge. The fourth-year questionnaire included additional questions about the students' clinical training in breast cancer screening skills and their perceptions of needs for further training.

RESULTS

Although the students performed significantly better on the knowledge-based questions in their fourth year than they did in their first year, considerable room for improvement remained. The students reported learning the most from surgery rotations and more from standardized patients than from faculty. Women medical students performed significantly more clinical breast examinations than did men students.

CONCLUSIONS

Most of the medical students reported needing additional training in clinical breast examination. More curricular time devoted to education about breast cancer screening is needed.